Closure latch



March 24, 1970 1, LOHR 3,502,360

CLOSURE LATCH Filed July 1, 1968 I N VEN TOR.

I I u J/masEfi/zr ATTORNEY United States Patent Office 3,502,360 CLOSURE LATCH Thomas E. Lohr, Warren, Mich., assignor to General Motors Corporation, Detroit, Mich., a corporation of Delaware Filed July 1, 1968, Ser. No. 741,787 Int. Cl. Ec 3/40 US. Cl. 292-224 3 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A flanged support plate mounts a combined bolt and actuating lever having a lateral arm extending along the flange of the plate and terminating in a cam follower flange. A torsion spring holds the flange in engagement with a key actuated cam to locate the lever in unlatched position. The engagement of the cam with the follower flange moves the lever to unlatched position. An oflset slotted guide mounted on the plate slidably receives a leg of the lever, and a buttress threaded striker proiected through the guide is engaged by the angled free edge portion of the leg of the lever to provide the latch and also provide take-up.

This invention relates to closure latches and more particularly to vehicle body closure latches.

The closure latch of this invention is particularly adapted for use with a vehicle deck lid and includes takeup to maintain the deck lid in a fully closed position despite vibrational movement of the deck lid relative to the body during operation of the vehicle.

Generally, the latch includes a combined actuating lever and bolt which is swingably mounted on a support and resiliently biased in one direction. The lever includes an integral cam follower engageable with a conventional key or otherwise operated cam to locate the lever in latched position against the resilient bias. An angled free edge portion of a leg of the lever engages the buttress thread of a striker to hold the deck lid in closed position and also provide the take-up. The leg of the lever is slidably guided for movement relative to the striker to permit slamming engagement of the leg and striker. The latch is thus of simplified construction and includes a minimum number of movable parts to ensure troble-free operation.

The primary object of this invention is to provide an improved vehicle body closure latch of simplified construction having take-up. Another object is to provide such a latch which combines the bolt and the actuating lever into a single unitary lever having an integral cam follower engageable by a cam for both locating and operating the lever. A further object is to provide such a latch wherein the take-up is provided by the engagement of a free edge of an arm of the lever with the buttress thread of a striker.

These and other objects of the invention will be readily apparent from the following specification and drawings wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a partial rear perspective view of a vehicle body having a deck lid held in closed position by a closure latch according to this invention;

FIGURE 2 is an enlarged sectional view taken generally along the plane indicated by line 2--2 of FIG- URE 1;

FIGURE 3 is a view taken generally along the plane indicated by line 3--3 of FIGURE 2;

FIGURE 4 is a view taken generally along the plane indicated by line 4-4 of FIGURE 2;

FIGURE 5 is a view taken generally along the plane indicated by line 55 of FIGURE 4; and

3,502,360 Patented Mar. 24, 1970 FIGURE 6 is an exploded perspective view.

Referring now to FIGURE 1 of the drawings, a vehicle body designated generally 10 includes a deck lid 12 which is swingably mounted in a conventional manner adjacent its forward edge 14 on the body 10 for movement between a closed position as shown and an open position, not shown, to provide access to the trunk of the body. The deck lid 12 mounts a conventional key actuated lock cylinder 16 to provide for operation of the closure latch 18 which is located interiorly of the deck lid.

As best shown in FIGURE 2 of the drawings, the deck lid includes an inner panel 20 having a lateral flange 22 hem flanged at 24 to the outer panel of the deck lid. A conventional weather-strip 26 is mounted on the flange 22 and is compressed against a body flange when the deck lid is in closed position to thereby provide seal pressure biasing the deck lid to open position. The closure latch 18 includes a lock 28 mounted on the inner panel of the deck lid and a striker 30 mounted on the body.

An angle bracket 32 has one leg 33 thereof suitably secured to the inner panel 20 of the deck lid. The bracket forms no part of this invention and may be of other suitable shapes. A support plate 34 includes a number of weld nuts 36 which receive bolts 38 to thereby secure the bracket 34 to the bracket 32. The. plate 34 also includes a lateral flange or leg 40 which bears against the other leg of the bracket 32. It will be noted with reference to FIGURE 2 that the flange 40, the other leg of the bracket 32, and the inner panel 20 of the deck lid are. coaxially apertured so that the lock cylinder 16 may extend therethrough.

A combined bolt and actuating lever 42 is pivoted at 44 to the plate 34. The free end of the leg 46 of the lever terminates in a slightly angled or offset edge portion 48, FIGURE 6, having a generally semi-cylindrical cutout. The other leg 50 of the lever is joined to an integral lateral leg 52 extending along the leg 40 of plate 34 and terminating in 'a lateral cam follower flange 54. A conventional cam 56 is rotatably secured to the leg 40 within the aperture therein and conventionally operated by the lock cylinder assembly 16. A coil torsion spring 58 surrounds the pivot 44 and has one leg hooked to the leg 46 of the lever 42 and the other leg hooked to the plate 34 to bias the lever clockwise as viewed in FIGURES 3 and 5. The lever 42 is located against the action of the spring by the engagement of the follower flange 54 with the cam 56. Upon reference to FIGURE 5, it can be seen that counterclockwise rotation of the cam 56 will swing the lever 42 in the same direction about the pivot 44 to unlatched position.

A guide 60 fits within an aperture 62 in the plate 34 and includes a pair of apertured lateral ears 64, which are riveted or otherwise secured to the plate 34 to fixedly mount the guide 60 thereon. The guide includes axially spaced circumferentially oflset cutouts 66, FIGURE 3, each of which includes a flange or extension 68, FIG- URES 3 and 5. The free end of leg 46 of lever 42 slides on the flanges 68 and the free edge portion 48 moves between the flanges 68 and within the cutouts 66 when the free edge potrion 48 of the leg is moved into and out of engagement with the strike 30, as will be described.

The striker 30 includes a threaded lower end 70 of reduced diameter which is bolted to an angle bracket 72 conventionally mounted on the body 10. The striker 30 includes a buttress thread 74.

When the striker 30 is received within the guide 60, the angled free edge portion 48 of the lever 42 engages the buttress thread 74 of the striker to hold the deck lid 12 in closed position and provide take-up during operation of the vehicle. When it is desired to release the deck lid, the key cylinder assembly 16 is operated to rotate the cam 56 in a counterclockwise direction, FIG- URE 6, and thereby move the lever 42 in the same direction about the pivot 44. This moves the edge portion 48 out of engagement with the thread 74 and thereby permits the deck lid to be opened. The seal pressure of the Weatherstrip 26 will partially open the deck lid as soon as the lever 42 is rotated slightly counterclockwise.

When it is desired to close the deck lid, it is manually slammed and the engagement of the free edge portion 48 of the lever 42 with the tapered no-se 76 and thread 74 of the striker 30 will cam the lever 42 slightly counterclockwise until the deck lid reaches a fully closed position and the free edge portion 48 engages the buttress thread 74 of the striker. When the deck lid is manually slammed, the leg 46 of lever 42 is guided by the flanges 68 so that no bending of the lever occurs.

Although the striker 30 is shown as being fixed to the body, it is believed obvious that this striker could be power operated if so desired.

Thus, this invention provides an improved vehicle body closure latch.

What is claimed is:

1. a closure latch comprising, in combination, a support plate having an aperture therein adjacent one edge portion therof and a lateral flange extending therefrom adjacent a spaced edge portion thereof, a combined bolt and actuating lever pivotally mounted on the plate intermediate the edge portions thereof for movement generally parallel of the plate and including a first arm extending toward the aparture in the plate and having a free edge portion, a second arm extending to adjacent the flange of the plate, and a third arm extending laterally from the second arm along the plate flange, a cam follower means on the third arm, cam means mounted on the plate flange for engagement with the cam follower means to move the lever about the pivot thereof, resilent means biasing the lever about the pivot thereof in a direction to hold the cam follower means in engagement with the cam means and thereby locate the free edge portion of the first arm adjacent the aperture in the support plate, and a buttress threaded striker member extending through the aperture in the support plate and latchingly engageable with the free edge portion of the first arm of the lever.

2. A closure latch comprising, in combination, a support plate having an aperture therein adjacent one edge portion thereof and a lateral flange extending therefrom adjacent a spaced edge portion thereof, a combined bolt and actuating lever pivotally mounted on the plate intermediate the edge portions thereof for movement generally parallel of the plate and including a first arm extending toward the aperture in the plate and having a free edge portion, a second arm extending to adjacent the flange of the plate, and a third arm extending laterally from the second arm along the plate flange and terminating in a cam follower edge portion, cam means mounted on the plate flange for engagement with the follower edge portion to move the lever about the pivot thereof, resilient means biasing the lever about the pivot in a direction to hold the follower edge portion in engagement with the cam means and thereby locate the free edge portion of the first arm adjacent the aperture in the support plate, and a buttress threaded striker member extending through the aperture in the support plate and latchingly engageable with the free edge portion of the first arm of the lever.

3. A closure latch comprising, in combination, a support plate having an aperture therein adjacent one edge portion thereof and a lateral flange extending therefrom adjacent a spaced edge portion thereof, a combined bolt and actuating lever pivotally mounted on the plate intermediate the edge portions thereof for movement generally parallel of the plate and including a first arm extending toward the aperture in the plate and having a free edge portion, a second arm extending to adjacent the flange of the plate, and a third arm extending laterally from the second arm along the plate flange and terminating in a flanged follower edge portion, cam means mounted on the plate flange for engagement with the follower edge portion to move the lever about the pivot thereof, an annular guide mounted on the plate and having a bore opening to the plate aperture, the guide including a slot therein opening to the guide bore and receiving the free edge portion of the first arm, resilient means biasing the lever about the pivot thereof in a direction to hold the follower edge portion in engagement with the cam means and locate the free edge portion of the first arm within the guide slot, and a buttress threaded striker member extending through the aperture in the support plate and latchingly engageable with the free edge portion of the first arm ,of the lever.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,797,947 7/1957 Soroke 29211 2,809,064 10/1957 Dlugatch 292226 3,081,078 3/1963 Lohr 268-74 3,207,543 9/1965 Boyer 292-52 MARVIN A. CHAMPION, Primary Examiner ROBERT L. WOLFE, Assistant Examiner 

